I'm lucky enough to get a special "guest post" so I can talk about my upcoming Christmas story, which will be available this TUESDAY!!
LOVING YOU AT CHRISTMAS is part of my Shellwater Key Tales series. In fact, it's the final book in the series. Actually, the last book (appropriately called
Last Stop At Paradise) was supposed to be the final book, but it turns out I needed to write a holiday story for a box set. I also turns out I had another character who had sort of been forgotten in. Annaliese Matheson shows up in Book 1 (Left Turn At Paradise) as a friend and colleague of director Grayson Kendall, who was the "hero" in that book. Annaliese was part of Grayson's theatre troupe as an up-and-coming stage actress. When I realized I had to write the Christmas book, I knew I had a character her needed her own romance.
LOVING YOU AT CHRISTMAS
A Shellwater Key holiday novella
Annaliese Matheson once
had the perfect life, with a successful career on Broadway and a loving husband
who was her greatest champion. Then her husband died. Devastated, she left the
stage behind and only returned when her best friend, Grayson Kendall, asked her
to perform at The Paradise Dinner Theatre in tiny Shellwater Key, Florida.
Annaliese
is convinced she’ll never love again, but when she steps in to direct to Middle
School Christmas Show, nothing will ever be the same. A man unlike any she’s
known awakens her buried heart, giving her a second chance at forever with the
last person she would have expected. It will take a miracle for Annaliese to
let someone else in and embrace happiness again...but then it is Christmas.
Excerpt:
When Annaliese’s cell rang later that evening, she knew who
it was without glancing at the screen. She took a couple of breaths,
deliberately letting the phone ring a few times, before answering. “Hello?”
“Meet
me at the parking lot on the south end of The Strip.”
Such
arrogance. She wasn’t going to make it that
easy for him. “Who is this?”
Duke
Evans’ husky laugh sent fingers of sensation running all over her body. Maybe
she shouldn’t go. This kind of chemistry might be dangerous, especially coming
off such a long period of…nothing. Especially when the man in question was so
different from Matthew in every single way. It wasn’t logical or reasonable.
“Annaliese,
I’m too old to play games,” Duke Evans said, though the thread of amusement
remained in his voice. “I need to see you.”
Okay
fine, no games on her end, either. “I’m not sure that’s wise, Mr. Evans.”
“Who
said we need to be wise, Ms. Matheson?”
Arrogant,
sure, but he was also charming, and smart. It was an intriguing combination. “I
don’t think I’m ready. My husband died and—”
“It’s
a stroll on the boardwalk, surrounded by hundreds of people who will be focused
on the Christmas lights and whatever senior-citizen musical group Shellwater
Key can put together.”
“Now
who’s playing games?” she countered. “I don’t know that I can handle
this…handle you.”
She
heard the quick, indrawn breath on his end. “You really shouldn’t say things
like handle me, Ms. Matheson. I might
get ideas.” His voice had grown even huskier. “Listen, I’ve been surrounded by
little girls for the last six months. There’s a chance I won’t know what to do
with you.”
Annaliese
laughed at such an outright lie. “I’ll believe that when Hell freezes over, but
all right, I’ll meet you in thirty minutes.”
“Ten
minutes.”
“Twenty-five.”
“Fifteen.”
Annaliese
glanced in the mirror, caught a glimpse of the ecstatic grin on her face, and
quickly readjusted her expression. She also noticed her wrinkled clothes and
unkempt hair, a result of a full day of extreme nervousness and pressure. “I’m
a wreck. I don’t know what I can accomplish in only fifteen minutes.”
“You
could show up wearing a potato sack and I wouldn’t care,” he said, sounding
impossibly arrogant and commanding and so sexy she almost whimpered. “And don’t
you dare touch your hair. Be there in fifteen minutes.”
“I
don’t think I like it when a man tells me what to do.”
“Annaliese.”
He laughed again, sounding both frustrated and amused. “Just be there in
fifteen minutes or I’ll come to you.”
“You
don’t know where I live.”
“This
is Shellwater Key, I can find out your address in about five minutes,” he said.
“If you’re scared of being in public with me, just think about having me in
your place.”
The
thought of having him anywhere made
her blood sizzle, and she did whimper this time. “You shouldn’t say things like
that, either.”
“Fifteen
minutes, Annaliese. That’s as long as I’m prepared to wait.”
Links to Pre-order:
Kristin is a USA Today Bestselling author of
inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “love, laughter and a
leap of faith”. Growing up she devoured books like bags of Dove Dark Chocolate.
Her first Golden Book led to Laura
Ingalls Wilder, Nancy Drew, C.S. Lewis and the Sweet Valley High series.
Later, she discovered romance novels and fell in love all over again. It’s no
surprise that Kristin would one day try her hand at writing them. She is
the author of two bestselling series, Covington
Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance) and Shellwater Key Tales (contemporary romance).
Want a FREE book? Sign up for Kristin's newsletter to get the scoop on new releases and contests. PLUS download Finding You At Christmas FREE! Sign up here!
Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of
inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love,
Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of two best selling series,
Shellwater Key Tales (sweet contemporary romance) and Covington Falls
Chronicles (inspirational romance). Look for her latest holiday romance, LOVING YOU AT CHRISTMAS, part of her
Shellwater Key Tales series.
